Mardi Gras Madness: A Modern Rendition of Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night
L-R: Allyce Kranabetter & Charlotte WrightPhoto Credit: Tim Matheson
Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of attending UBC Theater and Film’s season premier, The Twelfth Night.
Set in a colourful world of festive madness, the plot is premised on the tragic separation of twins, Viola and Sebastian. The lives’ of the these siblings become the two main subplots of the play. Viola disguises herself as a boy for protection and secures a page position in the household of Duke Orsino. The Duke then commissions Viola to help him win the silly and fickle heart of Lady Olivia, which proves to be difficult task due to the drunken madness of the Lady’s household. Sebastian, believing his sister to be dead, travels with his friend and protector, Antonia. The path of the siblings interweave to create a hilarious tale of mistaken identity, and misplaced love.
Director Stephen Heatly has set the play in modern day New Orleans during the festival of Mardi Gras. This adaptation is more than fitting because Mardi Gras, in many ways, is a modern representation of the holiday madness that would have taken place over the traditional English festival of The Twelfth Night. According to costume designer Ms. Shelby Page, the attire mostly consists of wild and wacky rave apparel.
The acting of this production was excellent. The lines were delivered with smoothness and clarity so that not a bit of Shakespeare’s intelligent and hilarious dialogue was lost. Although all the actors were noteworthy, Ms. Ghazal Azarbad, who plays the part of Maria, was an outlier. Her impeccable comedic timing, and undeniable charm made it easy to play along with her wild antics.
Although modest and static, the set design by Ms. Rebecca Burks was visually interesting with the use of sparkling lights and colourful fabric. Other than a bit of smoke here and there, the special effects were minimal; however, the lighting by Mr. Andrew Pye was very well done and easy on the eyes.
I have to say that the choreography could have been more engaging. The dance sequences were for the most part uninteresting and uncreative.
Some adjustments were made to the original Shakespearean characters and dialogue. The most significant being Sebastian’s male protector, Antonio, was played as a female Antonia. This slightly changes the connotation of the sexual relationship between the two.
I thoroughly enjoy this production and would encourage everyone to go see it. The plot is entertaining and the dialogue is hilarious. Most importantly, the acting of this relatively small stage production makes it as entertaining as one of a larger scale.
The Twelfth Night is running from 25 September 2014 until 11 October 2014 at The Fredrick Wood Theater located at 6354 Crescent Rd UBC, Vancouver. For tickets call (604) 822-2678 or check out their website here!